I wish more of them did it. My experience with books is that if you know something about something, you’d best avoid novels touching on the topic because they’ll only frustrate you, even if the uninitiated think they’re well-researched.

You know, there’s a lot I analyze about books but symbols aren’t one of those things!

I feel like a lot of symbols are intuitive, because they carry emotional weight in the narrative—so you know what they’re about even if you wouldn’t articulate it that way. For instance, a character often has an object that’s important to them because it symbolizes someone important in their life.

Seeking out symbols that don’t carry weight in the story isn’t a very meaningful activity for me though, so no I don’t do that. English classes focus on this overmuch methinks.

Agreed with all of this. A great example of making the protagonist competent without making everyone else stupid. And hell, sometimes everyone gets to be competent—I thought the way the group worked on the mystery in book one exemplified this. No one would be a scientist on this mission if they were an idiot.

You might try reading history, biography, memoir…. tons of ways to read (and books that tell stories) while also getting things that really happened. If you’re not in a place in your life where you enjoy fiction right now, I’m not sure trying to force it will have any benefits for you. But there’s a whole world of nonfiction and memoir out there!

I love fantasy novels, but these days I prefer memoirs and histories to realistic fiction. I mostly read realistic fiction (especially if it’s a contemporary setting) to experience lives and perspectives other than my own, and, well…. If I can get a nonfiction version of that, why wouldn’t I take it over a made-up one? And I love all the messy complications of real life and real people that would get left out of a plot arc or an invented character.